Chris looked up as Mary came into the saloon, he watched as she took a quick look around the room and then her eyes settled on him. She came over to the table. "Chris I have a telegram for you from Judge Travis." she smiled at JD, Buck and Josiah as they were also at the table. He took the telegram from her and read it to himself before revealing it to the others.

"Judge wants all of us to go to Mount Hallow to help him hold a trial, seems that there are some people there who rather hang the guy before the trial and they have managed to run the sheriff out of town." he explained to them.

"When do we leave?" asked JD thinking the worse.

"Now." answered Chris knowing what he was thinking.

JD and Buck looked at each other and at the same time they both said "No!"

"I did it last time." complained JD. "Buck can wake him up."

"I ain't doin it, he nearly killed me last time." stated Buck.

"Yeah well you have lived longer than me, if I get killed then I will be cut down in my prime."

"It's because I am older that you should do it." Buck argued back at him.

"I forgot you might have a heart attack or something when he shoots that derringer at you." smiled JD.

"Why you . . . " Buck went to hit him but Josiah stopped them.

"I'll go and wake Ezra up." he got up not failing to notice the looks of relief on their faces. They always had trouble when it came to waking Ezra up early as he hated early mornings, it was one of the things that he despised in life. And he always pulled his derringer on the people who tried to wake him. They had to do this on three occassions over the last two weeks and Ezra had nearly killed Buck the second time. He had actually fired the derringer and missed Buck by mere inches.

"We'll get the others and what we need for the trip and then meet you outside." Chris told him before he left. He thought that by the time Josiah was able to wake him they would have the horses saddled and gotten some supplies for the trip as they would have to spend one night out in the open. They left the saloon followed by Mary as Josiah made his way up to Ezra's room.

Once there he decided that the best thing to do would be to just go in and make sure that he was not able to pull the gun on him. Ezra was usally a heavy sleeper but he could also wake up so quickly that he was able to suprise the person who tried to interrupt his sleep. They never knew wether he would wake up at the first sound or if they would have to yell at him to get him to wake up. This usually had a lot to do with how much he had drunk the night before. His plan was to go in and grab his gun arm so he couldn't shoot him and then hope that he would take longer to wake up, that way he was less likely to try and pull out his derringer and shoot whoever it was waking him. It was when he woke quickly that worried people.

Josiah opened the door and went in expecting to find Ezra asleep but instead he found him sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. Ezra didn't look up when Josiah came in, he was to involved in trying to get rid of the nightmare that caused him to wake up shaking and sweating. His dreams had changed. Instead of the others shooting and missing the bullets now struck his body and he did die, he died alone.

"Ezra?" Josiah said softly not wanting to scare him. He still didn't look up though as he didn't hear Josiah call him. All he could hear was the sound of guns going off and the laughter that faded as his life faded out of his body.

"Ezra?" he called him again. Josiah was worried, he went over and placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder.

"Ahh!" Ezra cried out and stood up away the touch. "Josiah, I . . um . . I didn't hear you . . come . . in." he ran his hands through his hair and looked everywhere expcept at Josiah.

"Are you still having those dreams Ezra?" they had all thought that the nightmares he suffered from were gone but Josiah was beginning to think that Ezra lied to them as he usually did and the dreams were still there.

"No, it's just a bad headache, to much to drink last night." he lied as he fiddled with his hair and clothes and still keeping his eyes away from Josiah. He knew that the fear that he felt would still be in them. "Is there something you wanted." he changed the subject and if it wasn't for the fact that they had to leave Josiah would have pushed him further about it.

"We have to go to Mount Hollow, the Judge wants us there to help out at a trial. He wants all of us there." Josiah watched him. 'It must have been a nightmare why else would he not look at me.' he thought to himself.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." mumbled Ezra wishing that Josiah would now go away.

"The others are getting the horses and some supplies so I will wait for you out front." Josiah waited a moment. "Ezra are you okay?"

"Of course I'm fine, I told you it's just a headache." he was looking down at his shoes.

"Then why won't you look at me?" when Ezra told him that he would be ready in ten minutes Josiah knew that he could spend a few extra minutes trying to find out what was wrong.

Ezra took a deep breath and forced his poker face to take control of his emotions. He then looked up at Josiah hoping that he was able to hide everything that he was feeling at that moment. "Happy now." he said to him.

"No." Josiah knew that it was Ezra's poker face that he was looking at.

"Well I'm sorry that I can't change your mood, now if you don't mind I believe that I have to get ready to leave." he turned his back on him. Josiah sighed and left Ezra alone. When he finally left Ezra sat down on the bed, he just needed a few more minutes to gain control of himself.

When Chris and the others brought the horses to the saloon they expected to be waiting for Ezra but they saw him sitting in one of the chairs out front with Josiah. He didn't look up at them but continued to look at his hat that he had been busying his fingers with.

"Are you two ready?" asked Chris suprised that Josiah had woken Ezra so easily.

"Yeah were ready." Josiah got up and headed towards his horse. He turned around when he noticed that Ezra had not moved. He went back to him. "Ezra?" he nudged his arm.

"Huh." he looked up at Josiah with confusion in his eyes. He had still not been able to get rid of the after effects of the dream.

"Come on were leaving." Josiah pulled him up out of the seat. Ezra went to his new horse and got on. They had finally told him what happened to the other one. He turned the horse and rode off in the direction of Mount Hollow.

The others did not follow him straight away. "What was that about Josiah?" asked Buck thinking that he had done something to Ezra.

"He was already awake, I think that he's still having nightmares." he explained to them. "I think that we should have kept a closer eye on him than we did."

"Do you think that we should leave him behind?" asked JD.

"No. Were not going to leave him alone. We can keep an eye on him while he's with us." said Chris not realising that he and the others were going to regret that desicion. They quickly caught up with Ezra as he rode out of town.

Ezra had ridden in silence all morning. He did not take much notice of the scenery around him but just kept his eyes on the path that they were riding on. He rode behind the others as he knew that they were watching him again and as long as he was behind them they could not see his face. Buck though had stayed close to him. "Some things never change." he muttered thinking that it seemed like they were never going to leave him alone. He didn't realise that he had spoken aloud until Buck answered him.

"Did you say something Ezra?" he asked him.

"No." he didn't want to talk to him.

"Josiah says that you had a nightmare. Was it the same as the others?" Buck thought that he would try and get him to talk seeing how he had started, even if it was something not related to his dreams.

Ezra shot him a foul look and sent one at Josiah's back. "I told him it was a headache and that's what it was."

"Ezra if you are still having them you need to talk about them." Buck said to him.

"I told you that it was a headache now leave it at that will you!" Everyone turned around and looked at him as he had said it loud enough for all of them to hear. "What?" he yelled at them.

"I'm just trying to help you Ezra." Buck did not expect this outburst from him as they usually had to force him to show any sort of emotion.

"Well don't. I don't need your help and I don't want it." Ezra's voice was still raised but he didn't care. He wanted all of them to hear what he wanted to say.

Buck decided to get angry back at him hoping that it would get Ezra to let out more of the anger that he obviously had been keeping inside. "Well your going to get it anyway." he growled back at him.

"Buck just leave me the hell alone!" Ezra stared at him just wanting him to say something to give him an excuse to hit him. And Buck said it.

"I'm not going to leave you alone Ezra . . ." Buck didn't get any further as Ezra leaned over and hit him across the jaw knocking him off his horse. Ezra jumped off his own as he wanted to hit him again but Chris and Josiah were off their horses just as quick and pulled Ezra away from Buck before he could do anymore damage.

"Ezra stop it." Josiah told him.

Ezra pulled away from them. "Just leave me alone." he was looking at Buck but then he turned to the others. "All of you, just leave me alone!" Ezra walked away from them back to his horse and leaned his head against it's shoulder. The nightmare that he had that morning was enough to bring back all his anger about what had happened when he was hurt and they had not looked for him. And he was having a hard time controlling it.

Josiah went to Ezra as Nathan checked Buck. "Ezra you didn't have to hit him."

"If you don't want me to hit you either then go away and leave me alone." the anger showed in his voice. Before Josiah could say anything Ezra got up on his horse and sat there looking out into the distance all though his mind was else where.

Josiah didn't say anymore, he turned and went to see how Buck was doing. "I pushed him to far didn't I." muttered Buck as he rubbed his jaw.

"It's not your fault Buck, he's angry and he had to break sometime." said Nathan.

"Lets just be careful with him from now on okay." Josiah said to them.

"Let's keep moving." Chris said to them. He turned and went back to his own horse and glanced at Ezra on the way past but Ezra did not acknowledge him or anyone else. He seemed to be staring at something but his eyes looked glassy. He was like that for the rest of the afternoon.

As soon as it started to get dark they stopped and made camp. Each man took care of their own horse. Vin and JD collected wood and started a fire while Buck and Josiah prepared some food for everyone. Once Ezra took care of his horse he found himself a spot on the edge of camp and stayed away from the others. They all sat around the fire silently eating the meal that was made and watched Ezra as he sat with his back to them. He had refused to eat anything and Chris expected him to drink his dinner but he hadn't done that either. He just sat there looking at nothing.

Ezra didn't want to go to sleep, he was to afraid of dreaming. He had enough of the dreams but he didn't know how to stop them. At least the others had finally left him alone. He felt tired and tried to fight it but he couldn't, he eventually fell asleep. Once the other six men saw that Ezra had fallen asleep and was not dreaming they to allowed sleep to take them as well.

It was early in the mornig when Ezra's scream woke everyone. He had been having the same nightmare that he had the night before. His friends had been standing in front of him with their guns pointed at him. He always thought that they wouldn't shoot him but they did, even Buck and JD and then they left him there on his own with his blood and life force leaving his body. He could feel the scream rising in his throat and he finally let it out waking himself and the others.

He sat up and put his shaking hands against his head. His whole body was shaking and he couldn't stop it. Everyone had jerked awake when they heard his scream and they looked over to where he was, they could see him sitting up with his head in his hands and they could see that he was shaking. Josiah was the one to get up and go over to him.

"Ezra you had one of those nightmares that you keep saying you don't have didn't you?" asked Josiah as he sat down next to him. He watched as Ezra nodded his head. "Are you going to tell me about them?" Ezra shook his head. "You have to talk about them Ezra."

"I don't have to do anything, leave me alone." Ezra said through his hands.

"Are you going to hit me if I don't" Josiah said to him.

"Josiah please, leave me alone." Ezra tooks his hands away from his head and wrapped them around himself as they were still shaking.

"Why won't you talk about them Ezra?" Josiah was very concerned as he could see what they were doing to him.

Ezra looked up at him and then passed him at the others. They were all watching him. "Why won't you leave me alone?" he asked back.

"Because were worried about you." Josiah told him. Ezra was still looking past him.

"There's nothing to worry about, it's just a dream."

"A dream that causes you to wake up screaming." he watched as Ezra winced and look back down at the ground. "It's the same one isn't it. The ones you had about us and what we did?" Josiah knew that he was correct but he wanted Ezra to say it.

"Leave me alone Josiah." Ezra laid back down and rolled over onto his side showing Josiah that he wasn't going to talk anymore.

"I'm going to get you to talk Ezra whether you want to or not." Ezra didn't answer him so he got up and went back to the others.

"Well?" asked Buck.

"He still won't talk." sighed Josiah, he didn't know what to do. He sat back down on his bed roll but he didn't sleep either, none of them did. They stayed awake and watched Ezra's back looking for any signs that he was dreaming. Ezra stayed awake though, he wasn't going to fall asleep again.

A couple of hours later they broke camp and continued their journey. They were silent during the ride, no one knew what to say. They kept an eye on Ezra not knowing what to do to help him. They had been riding for most of the morning when they saw a group of men up ahead standing by their horses. They noticed that one of them was handcuffed. When they had reached them they stopped to find out what was going on. Ezra looked up to find out why they had stopped.

"Good lord." he muttered. He saw Buck look at him from the corner of his eye but he ignored him as he looked at the man he had not seen for five years.

"Something wrong Ezra?" Buck asked him as he saw the shocked look that had come over his face.

Ezra ignored him as he continued to stare at the man who was now staring back at him. It had been five years since he last saw this man. He saw the handcuffs that kept his hands in front of him and the guns that were now aimed at him as the seven hired lawmen came to a stop in front of them. He noticed that Buck continued to watch him so he pulled his gaze away from the man and looked at him but still did not answer his question, he hoped that the poker face that he was now wearing answered it for him. He turned back to the man that was still watching him.

"You men need any help?" Chris asked them.

"And who might you be?" asked the man that Chris assumed to be the leader of the group.

"Chris Larabee. Were from Four Corners and were on our way to help Judge Travis in Mount Hallow." he answered him.

"Well what a coincidence. This is the man that is going to be on trial there. Were his escorts." he nudged the man in handcuffs and indicated to his men to put their guns away as the Judge had told him about this man and the other six that were with him.

"The Judge didn't tell us that he wasn't in town." Chris was starting to get suspicious. He placed his hand on his gun and the others followed his move but Ezra kept his hands away from his guns.

The man opened his coat and showed Chris his badge. "My name is Marshall Reid and we are escorting this man to Mount Hallow."

Chris relaxed slightly and looked at the man in handcuffs. He saw that he was staring at something and when he turned around to see what he was looking at he saw Ezra. He turned back to the group of men. "What's he going to be on trial for?"

"Murder." Reid answered him as he shoved his prisoner towards his horse. Chris thought that he was being a bit rough with him. "They were innocent people to." he shoved him harder this time and the man tripped and fell to the ground.

Buck noticed Ezra tense up beside him thinking that it was the situation. He turned to him and saw the anger showing on his face. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong Ezra?" he asked him a second time. Buck flinched from the stare that Ezra gave him in return.

"Don't you think that you should go easy on him." Chris told Ried. The man had yet to stand trial and be proven guilty.

"No, the man is a murderer and he shouldn't even be getting a trial but it's the law so I have to make sure that he gets one. But as far as I am concerned he deserves everything that's coming to him." he then kicked him in the side trying to get him to stand up because he would rather not touch him.

Nobody expected what happened next. Buck was watching what was happening but he saw Ezra jump from his horse and run towards the Marshall. He finally found his voice. "Ezra what are you doin?" he yelled at him.

The others turned just in time to see Ezra run past them. They saw him bend down and pick up a thick branch as he ran passed it. "What the hell." said Chris and he to jumped from his horse as he had an idea what Ezra was about to do but he didn't know who he was going to hit with the branch.

Ezra was full of anger, both from what had been happening to him and from the way the Marshall was treating his friend. He heard him say that he was going on trial for murder but he didn't believe it. Jason was not capable of murder, he would never kill anyone. Ezra was willing to stake his life on that and he was about to. He held the anger in as long as he could but when the Marshall kicked his friend it was the last straw and he cracked just as he had the day before. He jumped off his horse and ran towards them, he saw a branch on the ground and without thinking picked it up as he passed. He heard Buck yell out to him but he continued to ignore him.

Reid looked up but he was to slow to stop what was about to happen. Ezra reached him and swung the branch as hard as he could and hit the Marshall across the side of the head. He only had to hit him once as he then fell to the ground in a heap. His deputies then pulled their guns on Ezra but he ignored them as he dropped the branch and bent down to his friend. Chris and the deputies were the only ones moving as the other five lawmen were shocked, Ezra was suprising them quite a lot lately but one by one they came to their senses and pulled their own guns to defend Ezra.

Chris saw what happened and before he could stop them one of the deputies raised his own gun and hit Ezra across the back of the head and he to fell to the ground unconscious. Chris shoved the deputy aside and bent down next to Ezra and Nathan was soon at his side.

"What did he do that for?" one of the deputies said to Chris.

Chris looked at the man in handcuffs but the man was not looking at him as he was watching Ezra's unconscious form. "Are you going to answer him or not?" Chris growled at him. The man looked at him for a moment but then returned his gaze to Ezra.

Nathan quickly checked Ezra's wound and found that it was bleeding, the deputy had hit him quite hard. "JD . . ." he turned around as he called him but JD was already there with his bag. He pulled out a cloth and gave it to Chris. "Hold this against his head to stop the bleeding and I will check him." he nodded towards the Marshall. Nathan only took five minutes to check the Marshall. He to had a bleeding head wound but it was more serious than Ezra's. He had one of his deputies put pressure on the wound until it stopped bleeding. While he was doing that he went back to Ezra. Chris had managed to stop the bleeding and Nathan put some balm on the wound and bandaged it. He noticed that the man in handcuffs had moved closer to Ezra. "He should be fine Chris." He then went back to finish taking care of the Marshall.

Chris looked at the man. "Do you know Ezra?" he asked him but the man continued to ignore him. He was to preoccupied with the thought of escape. He knew that Ezra would help him get away, he would have to or else he was going to hang. Chris realised that the man was not going to answer him. He looked down at Ezra wondering why he had done what he did. He must have know this man but he would have to wait until he woke up to find out. He stood up and turned to the others. "Vin, Buck take care of the horses, Josiah and JD, you start a fire. Were going to say here for a while to make sure that there okay before we go on." he watched them as they left to take care of things. Some of the deputies seperated and helped take care of the horses and the fire. One of them helped Nathan carry the Marshall to a more comfortable area. Chris placed his hands under Ezra's shoulders. "You want to help me carry him?" he asked the man sitting next to Ezra. He looked up and nodded. He stood up and bent down to pick up Ezra's legs finding it slightly difficult with his hands handcuffed. They then carried him closer to where Josiah and JD were starting the fire. When they had laid him down the man sat with him. Chris also stayed because he wanted to talk to Ezra before this man could.

Nathan came over to where Chris was sitting with Ezra. He knelt down and checked Ezra's bandage and felt his forehead to check for a fever. He had been unconscious for a couple of hours and he was beginning to worry as he should have woken up by now. Once he had done that he motioned to Chris that he wanted to talk to him. Chris got up but only went a short distance so he could continue to watch Ezra. He wanted to be there when he woke up.

"Chris the Marshall has a concussion. Ezra hit him pretty hard." he turned back to Ezra and the man sitting with him. "They know each other don't they?" he asked Chris.

"I'm sure of it but this guy is about as stubborn as Ezra is. He won't say anything. Is the Marshall going to be alright?"

"Yeah he should be but I will know for sure when he wakes up." Nathan turned as one of the deputies came over, it was the same one that had hit Ezra.

"Were going to have to arrest him, you know that don't you."

"Listen . . ." Nathan waited for him to give his name.

"Jones, the name is Jones." he told them.

"Listen Jones, Ezra has been through a lot lately and he was ready to lash out at anything and your boss gave him reason to." Nathan tried explaining to him.

"I don't care about what he has been through, he attacked a Marshall and when we get to Mount Hallow he's going to jail with the other one." he growled.

"What's that other ones name?" Chris asked him.

"Jason Wentworth. And he is going to hang for what he did."

Chris turned back to the man the deputy have given a name to. He was watching them and listening to the conversation. Jason turned back to Ezra when he saw Chris look at him. He needed Ezra to wake up, he needed Ezra to get him out of this situation. He heard Ezra moan but Chris had also heard him and he and Nathan came over to them. Nathan knelt down next to him again. "Ezra can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, I am not deaf." Ezra winced at the pain in his head.

"Can you open your eyes for me?" he asked again. Nathan wanted to make sure that Ezra did not have a concussion as well. He needed to check to see if his eyesight was blurry or if he had double vision.

"I would prefer not to." they all heard someone laughing and they turned to the man with them. "What's so funny?" asked Ezra but then he recognised the voice and remembered what happened. He quickly opened his eyes and looked at the friend that was laughing at him. "I asked you what was so funny?" he growled at him. Nathan and Chris watched Ezra as they were expecting him to attack this man.

"You are Ezra, you haven't changed a bit have you?" Jason kept laughing.

Ezra smiled back at him. Chris and Nathan were confused. "You mind telling us what's going on Ezra?" Chris asked him. The expression on Ezra's face changed as he looked at Chris.

"Jason is an old friend." was all he said.

"We gathered that much. Why did you attack the Marshall like that?"

"Someone had to stop him I couldn't just sit there and watch him beat him up now could I." Ezra was getting angry again. Nathan put his hand on Chris's arm to stop him going any further with the conversation.

"I'll be back Ezra and I'll expect a better explanation than that." Chris said to him before Nathan lead him away. "What are you doing Nathan?"

"He's angry Chris and he's not going to answers your questions until he calms down. Give him a little while and then come back." Chris nodded and went and joined the others at the fire while Nathan went back to Ezra.

Ezra had stayed quiet until he was sure that Chris was out of earshot but Nathan came back. He gave Jason a look that he understood and did not say anything more. "Ezra I just want to ask you a couple of things just to make sure that you are okay."

"Sure." Ezra watched him carefully.

"Is your vision blurry?" he shook his head no. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he answered correctly. "Are you feeling sick at all?" he answered no. "Okay then I'll let you get some rest and then bring you something to eat later. Jason do you want to come and join us, let Ezra get some more sleep. Nathan couldn't help but notice the look that came over Ezra's face when he mentioned getting some sleep.

"Yeah sure in a minute though." Nathan nodded and got up.

"Nathan." Ezra looked up at him. "Is the Marshall okay?"

"He'll be fine Ezra." he smiled to reassure him as he could see the concern on Ezra's face. He left them alone for a while.

"What was that all about Ezra?" asked Jason.

"Long story Jason. Don't you think that you should be telling me what these are about?" Ezra shook the handcuffs on his friends hands.

"Even longer story." he smiled at him. "I haven't got time to tell it to you now as your friend does not want me to stay long. How about I tell you about it after you get some rest."

"I don't want any rest." said Ezra

"You won't have a choice." he looked over his shoulder at Ezra's friends. They were all watching them. "I'll come back later." He got up and started to walk away but turned back to his friend. "It's good to see you again Erza."

Ezra smiled at him as his eyes closed, he tried to keep them open but he couldn't. Jason walked back to the group by the fire. It was very good to see him as he knew that Ezra would help him escape.

As Jason walked back to the fire he could see Jones watching him. He had his hand on his gun as though he was hoping that he was going to try and escape. He knew that he wanted to kill him but he wasn't stupid enough to try and escape without help and when he did escape he was not going to give Jones or anyone else the opportunity to kill him. He noticed that all eyes were on him when he sat down but he was not going to tell them anything about his friendship with Ezra. The look that Ezra had given him before the blackman came back told him that he wanted him to stay quiet so he wasn't going to say anything to them about their past which they probably didn't know much about anyway as Ezra never spoke about it. He knew that there were very few people who knew about Ezra and he was one of them.

"He's asleep." He saw them all look at each with what to seemed to be worry on their faces. "Something wrong with that?"

Chris quickly changed the subject. "How long have you and Ezra known each other?"

"Long enough." was the answer he gave.

"Long enough for what?" Just great thought Chris, it was going to be as hard getting information out of this guy as it was getting it out of Ezra.

"Long enough to be friends." he smiled at Chris knowing that he was going to get angry at him.

"Where did you meet?" Buck thought that he would try.

"Can't remember." his smile didn't drop from his face.

"He told you not to say anything didn't he?" asked Josiah.

He didn't say anything but that was enough for them to know that Josiah was right. They didn't bother asking him anymore questions. They just sat there quietly glancing at Ezra to see if he was dreaming and at the Marshall wondering if they were going to be able to keep Ezra out of jail. Reid had regained consciousness a couple of hours later and he was furious and demanded that Ezra be put in handcuffs to. But his rantings only lasted a few minutes as he then lost consciousness again. Nathan told Chris that he was correct in his assumption that he had a concussion but he should be fine to travel again in the morning.

After they had all had something to eat Josiah went and sat with Ezra for a while. He wanted to be there in case he started dreaming again, he wanted to wake him up before the dream got to bad. He knew what the dreams were about, they all did because when he was in Nathan's room recovering from his wound he had nightmares and he spoke in his sleep. Ezra did not dream though, not yet. He woke up to find Josiah sitting with him.

"What are you doing Josiah?" he asked him. He looked around for Jason and saw him sitting at the campfire

"Just keeping an eye on you." he followed Ezra's gaze and saw his friend watching them. "Don't worry he didn't tell us anything." he smiled down at Ezra knowing what he was thinking. "Just tell me one thing Ezra so we don't have to worry about you."

"And what's that Mr Sanchez?" Josiah could not help but notice that when Ezra was shutting people out he would use their last name.

"Was he, is he a good friend." he saw Ezra relax slightly.

"Yes he is."

"Well how about talking to him about your dreams." he suggested to him.

"Don't you have something else to do." Ezra said harshly.

"No. I told you I was going to get you to talk about them. I just thought that if he is a good a friend as you say you might be able to talk to him."

Ezra told him what he wanted to hear. "Alright I'll talk to him, anything to shut you up. Now will you go away."

"Good." Josiah smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. He then got up and went and had a quick word with Jason. Ezra watched them for a moment and then Jason came over to him.

Jason sat down next to him. "How are you feeling Ezra?" he asked.

"Bit of a headache that's all." he was weary, he was waiting for his friend to ask him about the dreams that he was having.

"Your friend over there said you wanted to talk to me about something." he looked over at Ezra with concern.

Ezra sat himself up and winced at the pain that went through his head. He thought that he would try and change the subject before it started. "I want to know what's going on. The Marshall said that you were going to trial for murder."

Jason looked Ezra straight in the eye. "I didn't do it Ezra. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and now I am going to hang, that's if I get there at all." he saw the look of concern that came over Ezra's face.

"Have you tried to prove that your innocent? And what do you mean if you get there?" he asked him.

"Yeah I did try but they needed a scape goat and I was it, that's why they want to try and kill me before I go to trial because they know that I will be found innocent."

"Who's trying to kill you?"

"The people who did kill that man." He looked at Ezra. "I didn't kill him Ezra you have to believe me."

"I do Jason but you don't have to worry though as well protect you until you go to court."

"I was hoping that you would do more than that for me Ezra." he watched Ezra closely looking for any sign that he should not go on with his idea.

"Such as?" frowned Ezra.

"I want you to help me escape so I can find the man that's trying to kill me."

"I can't do that Jason." he saw the look of dissapointment on his friend's face. "I'm a hired lawman I can't help you escape."

"Then you have changed Ezra as you would have five years ago." he knew that he had hit a nerve by the look on Ezra's face.

"That was a long time ago, I have changed since then, well so I have been told." Ezra was looking at his hands.

"If I don't get away from here Ezra they will kill me." He watched as a painful expresson crossed Ezra's features. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I'll help you Jason. Just give me some time to work out a way to get you out of here." Ezra did not look at him though. He was thinking about his friends not helping him and leaving him to die. He wasn't going to allow Jason to die. He was going to help him.

"Sure Ezra and thanks. I let you get some more rest and come back later." Jason had no idea what had changed Ezra's mind but whatever it was he was grateful.

When Jason went back to sit with the others he asked if they could arrange for the handcuffs to come off. It took Chris two minutes to convince Jones to give him the key. Josiah watched Jason as he sat and rubbed his wrists. "Well?" he asked him.

"Well what?" he was confused as to what he wanted.

"Did Ezra talk to you about his dreams?" Josiah asked again.

Jason put a smile on so he could cover his true feelings of confusion. "Yeah he did but he is not going to admit talking about them. He should be fine." He had no idea what Josiah was talking about as he had told him that Ezra wanted to talk to him but he did not say what about.

"He wouldn't talk to any of us." said Nathan.

"No he wouldn't. Ezra never did like talking about things and he obviously hasn't changed. Took me years before he would talk to me." he decided to tell them a bit more to gain their trust. But he did not realise that it would take more than that to gain these men's trust. "Last time I saw Ezra was five years ago and that was when he saved my life. One of those scenes after a game of poker. Man accused me of cheating and he pulled a gun but Ezra was there to stop him, took a bullet for me he did. I owe him my life." he looked around at them. "Have you met Maude yet." he saw them smile and knew that they had. "She showed up afterwards and convinced Ezra to do a con with her. Haven't seen him since, until now."

"Yeah Maude has tried to convince him to leave Four Corners but he hasn't gone yet. His a changed man." said Josiah.

"Yeah I can see that." he turned around to look at Ezra and saw Jones still watching him. "If you gentlemen don't mind I think that I am going to get some sleep." he got up and moved to an area close to Ezra. The others thought that he was concerned and wanted to be close to his friend but it was because he wanted to be ready when Ezra came up with a plan to escape.

Everyone had decided to do the same and Nathan checked both Reid and Ezra before he got some sleep. After he saw to Reid he went to check Ezra. He was sleeping soundly and Nathan hoped that he would get through the night without one of his nightmares. But he didn't. It was in the early hours of the morning when Ezra jerked awake, he was able to keep the scream in so he did not wake the people who were sleeping. He wiped the sweat away from his face using the sleeve of his jacket. He looked around the campsite and saw two of the deputies were awake and keeping guard on their prisoner. One of them saw that Ezra was awake and came over to him and bent down next to him.

"You okay?" he asked Ezra.

"Yeah fine." he saw that the other guard was not looking their way and before the man standing over him could do anything Ezra hit him. He caught him as he fell to the ground and quickly covered him up with his blanket. He stood up and felt slightly dizzy but it passed and he went to the other deputy. He took another look around to make sure that no one had woken up. When he was sure that everyone was still asleep he stepped up behind the deputy.

"You don't do a very good job do you." Ezra said to him. The deputy turned around and Ezra hit him as well. He wasn't able to catch him and he fell to the ground. Ezra took another look around and then went to wake Jason. He covered his mouth so he wouldn't make a noise and together they went and saddled their horses. They lead the horses for a while and then got on. Jason headed off in a particular direction and Ezra followed him.

Four hours later Chris and Vin woke at the same time. They could see Ezra still sleeping under his blanket but they saw that Jason had gone and that one of the deputies that was on guard was sleeping after being knocked out. The went around and woke everyone up and then asked the deputy what had happened."

"That friend of yours hit me." he growled.

"Wentworth is not a friend of ours." Vin told him.

"I wasn't talking about him."

Chris and Vin looked at each other and then at the blanket that they thought Ezra was sleeping under. They went over to the blanket and pulled it away and saw that it was not Ezra under it.

"What the hell does he think he's doing." growled Chris.

"How are you going there Ezra." Jason was a bit worried about him.

"I'm fine. Were are we going anyway?" Ezra asked him. They had been riding for five hours now and talking about old times but he had no idea where Jason was taking him.

"There's some friends that I want you to meet." he smiled back at him.

"Can these friends prove your innocence?"

"No."

"Then why are we meeting them?" Ezra was courious as to who these people were.

"You ask too many questions Ezra, don't worry about it." He knew that if Ezra thought about it to long that he would get suspicious. "So how long have you been a lawman?"

"I'm not really a lawman, just hired with the others to protect a town that's all." Ezra explained to him.

"And what does Maude think about that?" he laughed as he saw Ezra grimace. "I thought as much. You ever think of going back to what you use to do?"

"No not really." Ezra knew that he could not go back to the life he had.

"You haven't changed that much have you?"

Ezra smiled. He had changed he knew that, he just wouldn't admit it to anyone. He thought that he had found friends in Four Corners but he started to wonder about that after what had happened to him a few weeks ago. Chris still did not trust him, he also didn't want him there, he had told him that himself. Vin, Nathan and Josiah did not seem to care whether or not he stayed around. Buck and JD seemed to the only ones that defended him against the others but he even wondered how long that would last. He didn't seem to do anything right by them. He sometimes wondered why he stayed. Jason brought him out of his thoughts.

"You know you can join my friends and I. Do what we use to do plus a lot more."

"What do you mean a lot more?"

"I'll explain it when we meet my friends. Don't worry Ezra you'll like them." he smiled at Ezra.

Half an hour later they came to a top of a hill and at the base of it was a camp. Ezra saw five horses tied to a rope that had been strung between two trees. He saw four men around the fire that was in the middle of the camp and he looked around for the five man and saw him as he came out from behind a tree to their right.

"Jason, I thought that was you. How did you get away?" the man asked him.

"Ezra here is an old friend, he helped me escape. Ezra this is Gary my right hand man you could say." Ezra nodded to him.

"Well thanks Ezra. So this means you ain't gonna hang anymore." Gary laughed. "I don't know how you do it Jason, you always seem to beat that noose don't you."

"What does he mean by that Jason." Ezra was looking at him.

"He means that this is not the first time that I have beaten the hangman's noose. Now Ezra are you going to join us or not, I mean you are probably a wanted criminal now. If you go back you will hang also. You helped a murderer escape."

"You told me you didn't kill him." Ezra was shocked.

"I lied."

Ezra was at a loss for words. He believed him when he told him he was innocent and now he was saying that he did kill someone. It was obvious that his friend had changed even more than himself but he had changed for the worse.

"Are you going to join me or not Ezra?"

"No."

Ezra hoped that Jason was not going to kill him but he didn't know this man anymore. He was a good friend but he had changed and now his own life was in danger. He thought that this is exactly one of the reasons he never go close to people. They always ended up betraying him in one way or another. He remembered the nightmares that he had been having where his friends - men who he thought were friends but he was no longer sure about that - killed him and now he was going to be shot and left to die on his own just like in his dream. 'Just great.' he thought to himself.

"What am I going to do with you Ezra?" Jason asked him.

"Kill me I assume." Ezra's voice held a sarcastic tone. He looked over at the man called Gary and saw that he now had his gun pointed in his direction.

"Not yet Ezra we may need you if your friends or the Marshall follow us. Get off you horse please." Jason got off his own horse and went towards Ezra. "Gary come and get his guns and make sure that you get all three. I believe that you still carry that derringer in your sleeve Ezra." He covered him while his right hand man took Ezra's guns and then step back from him. "Now walk your horse down to the camp."

Ezra lead the way down followed by Jason and Gary. Once he reached the edge of the camp he stopped. "Daryl come and take care of the horses. Were going to rest for a while and then head out." he explained to them.

Daryl came up to them and gave Ezra the once over. "And who's this?" he looked at Ezra in disgust.

"An old friend. Once you have dealt with the horses I want to speak to you and everyone else so hurry up." he moved to a rock and sat down. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable Ezra. You won't be going anywhere for a while."

Ezra went and sat on the same rock as his friend. "What happened, what made you into a murderer?" he asked him.

"I told you Ezra it's a long story."

"You just told me that I won't be going anywhere for a while so why don't you tell your story."

"It doesn't really matter why I've changed Ezra. The fact is that I have, there were a lot of reasons. Some of them small some bigger but I am not going to explain myself to you or anyone else for that matter."

"If my associates come looking for me what are you going to do?" Ezra wasn't sure if they would.

Jason looked at him. "What do you mean if, don't you think that your friends will come after you?"

"My friends," Ezra emphasised the word, "would know that I helped you escaped and would think that I deserve what ever I get. If they came after me it would be so Chris Larabee could kill me himself."

"You really make yourself some nice friends don't you Ezra." he smiled at him.

"Yeah well I always thought that I was a good judge of character but I was obviously wrong." he growled at him.

Jason laughed as he knew that Ezra was talking about him. He turned to see Gary and Daryl coming back with the three other men in his gang. He stood up and walked up to them. "Gentlemen this is Ezra Standish, he is now our hostage, that is if we need one." he turned to back to Ezra. "Does that answer your question as to what I am going to do if your friends show up." Ezra did not answer him. "Now I am going to tell all of you this once and once only. If any of you harm him in any way I will kill you myself do you understand me." he watched as they all nodded. It was nice to have grown men fear you.

"If you have no intention of harming me then I will be on my way." said Ezra as he got up and started walking towards his horse but stopped as Jason stood in front of him.

"I didn't say that I couldn't hurt you Ezra." he smiled and Ezra felt sickened to his stomach that this man he once thought of as a good friend had turned into this. Jason brought up his gun and slammed it against the side of Ezra's head. Ezra collapsed into an unconscious heap at his feet. "Gary go back on look out." he turned to the others. "Were leaving in two hours so make sure that we'll be ready to go then." he looked back down at Ezra and nudged him with his foot. He smiled again.

"Chris you don't know what happened, maybe he forced Ezra into helping him." argued Buck.

"It was Ezra who hit the deputy and he would not allow anyone to force him into doing that, no Ezra went with him and he is going to pay for it." Chris was furious with Ezra. He was stamping around waiting for Vin to come back to let them know which direction they had gone in. Chris looked up as the Marshall came towards him. Nathan followed him as he tried to tell him to sit back down but he looked like he had something to say. Buck thought that he looked as mad as Chris and knew that Ezra was going to be in trouble when they found him.

"I just have one thing to ask you." he looked at Chris and Buck. "I know that he is a friend of yours and I have no idea why he hit me but would he usually help a murderer to escape?"

Niether Chris nor Buck said anything for a moment. They didn't expect that, they thought that he would want Ezra's blood. That he would want to see him hang for what he did to him. "The only reason that Ezra would help him was if he thought that he was innocent." Buck told him. He looked at Chris to make sure that he had heard what he said.

"Then one of two things happened. One, your friend has now become a criminal and has joined Wentworth's gang or two he somehow covinced your friend that he was innocent and if that is the case then this friend of yours is in a lot of trouble."

"What sort of trouble?" asked Buck as he suddenly felt more worried about Ezra.

"Wentworth is a murderer, there were witnesses to the last one he committed and it was not his first killing. The last person he killed was a sixteen year old boy in a bank robbery."

"Why would Ezra be friends with someone like that?" asked Nathan.

"That's what I would like to know." Chris was still angry. "I'm not sure why Ezra helped him but I intend to find out when we find him." He walked off to see if he could find Vin.

"I sure hope that he's okay Nathan." muttered Buck

"We all do Buck."

Chris returned ten minutes later with Vin. He had found a trail that they could follow. Nathan insisted that the Marshall return to Mount Hallow to get some rest and to let the Judge know what was happening but he refused. He wanted to get his hands on Wentworth and if this friend of his helped him knowing that his was a murderer then he would kill him to.

When Jason and his gang left two hours later Ezra had still not regained consciousness so he had his men tie his hands and throw him over his horse securing him so he did not fall off. This wasn't the way Jason wanted things to turn out. He had hoped that Ezra would join him but he did not realise how much Ezra had changed, he wasn't even sure if Ezra knew how much he changed. Five years ago he was always able to depend on Ezra but when he had taken that bullet for him after the card game Jason began to change. He didn't like putting his friend's life in danger like that, afterwards he had tracked down the man who had shot Ezra and he killed him. It was the first time that he had actually killed someone and he enjoyed it. He then met the wrong people and things went from there. He hadn't seen Ezra again after that as Maude had come and taken him on a con as she often did. He never really like Maude, he didn't like the way she treated Ezra but he never seemed to complain but he never complained about anything. He was always stubborn and that part of him had never changed. He looked behind him at his still form and wished that he did not have to kill his friend but he knew that he was going to have to. Once he was sure that no one was coming after them he would have to kill him.

Vin had found an easy trail to follow but then it became difficult as the ground became more rocky, he lost time and the others were worried that anything could happen to Ezra in that time. The only one of the six that did not worry was Chris as he still believed that Ezra had helped his friend out of his own self interests. He decided that this was the last time and that he was going to tell Ezra to leave the group. But he was going to make sure that he paid for what he had done first. He was tired of the whole situation with Ezra, he always messed things up and then got himself into awkward situations that the rest of them had to risk their lives to get him out of. He had enough of it. Vin then picked up the trail again and they began to move faster as they knew that Ezra and his friend had at least a four hour start on them

They had been riding for two hours so Jason stopped the group so that they could rest the horses. He knew that after the break that they had earlier that the others would only be two hours behind them but that was all the time he need as he would reach his destination by then. The town that they were headed for was only three hours away. He went over to Ezra to check to see if he had come round as yet. He grabbed a handful of hair and pulled his head up. He took note of the still bleeding wound on the side of his head. He let go and Ezra's head fell against the side of the saddle. He went and joined his men.

"What are you going to do with him Jason?" Gary asked him.

"That's none of your business."

"We can't drag him around with us, he's going to wake up soon and then he can become a problem." Gary continued.

Gary flinched back as his boss stood up and came towards him. "If he becomes a problem then he is my problem, I will deal with him. Is that clear." his voice was menacing. Gary knew better and just lowered his head and nodded.

After the horses had been rested they continued on their journey. Jason constantly watched Ezra waiting for him to come round but he didn't. Three hours later when they rode into Purgatory he was still unconscious. Jason had come here because he did not think that the men that were following them would come here. They were going to stay for a few days and once he was sure that he was safe he would deal with Ezra and then leave.

People watched as they rode into town heading towards what passed as the hotel. They stopped outside and while Gary and Daryl dragged Ezra from his horse Jason went in and arranged a room. This was where he intended to keep Ezra until he killed him. He knew that there would not be a problem dragging an unconsciuous man around this town as it was something that happened all the time. This was where outlaws went when they wanted to hide from the law as they knew that the law would not come looking for them here. He watched as his men carried Ezra up to the room he had been given and then as they threw him on the bed.

"I told you to be careful with him." he yelled at them. They nodded and left to go to the saloon to get a well needed drink.

He went and sat on the bed and made Ezra more comfortable. He then checked his head wound, it had nearly stopped bleeding. He lifted the sheet and pressed it against the wound to stop the bleeding. Ezra moaned at the touch and rolled his head to the side. He opened his eyes and looked at the man that was once his friend. He then looked around the room squinting as the light shining through the window sent bolts of pain through his head.

"Where are we?" his voice was husky.

"You don't need to know that Ezra, now why don't you just go back to sleep." he hit Ezra across the side of the face sending him back into darkness and knowing that he would not have to worry about the bruise that was going to form on his jaw. Once he made sure that he was asleep again he took his hands that were still tied and loosened them enough to tie them to the bed post above his head. When he had done that he went and joined his men for a drink. On the way pass the front desk he paid the man some money to inform him if anyone came looking for him or the man that they had left upstairs.

Vin stopped at the top of the hill that overlooked the area where Jason's men had been camped. "It looks like they stopped down there for a while." he commented to no one in particular. He nudged his horse forward and made his way down the hill. He then got off and looked around for ten minutes while everyone stayed on their own horses so as not to disturb any sort of trail that might be around. He stopped in one spot and knelt down. "Nathan could you come and have a look at this."

Nathan knelt down beside him. "Do you think that could be Ezra's blood?" Vin asked him.

"Could be and by the amount that is here it could be a serious wound." they stood up and walked a sort distance and then came back.

"We have some more problems." Vin said to Chris as the others listened.

"And what would they be?" he was not in the mood for Vin not being direct.

"There were five men waiting here and I assume that they are with Wentworth, they are now headed to Purgatory." he hesitated then not knowing how the others would react.

"And?" growled Chris.

"There's quite a bit of blood near that rock there." he turned and pointed so he would not have to look at their faces.

"If it's Ezra's blood then he could be hurt bad." Nathan finished for him.

Vin turned back to them. "And there is a trail of blood heading in the direction of Purgatory so who ever is hurt must still be alive but bleeding badly."

"You think that it's Ezra's?" Chris was thinking that if it wasn't then he would end up bleeding quite a bit when he got his hands on him.

"Could be unless he hurt one of them and if he did then that would mean he was with them." But Nathan did not think so. He didn't like or trust Ezra at times but he did not think that he would side with a murderer unless he still thought that his friend was innocent which would be unlikely by now. Especially now that they had joined up with the rest of the gang. Everyone else sat quietly taking in what they were being told.

"We better keep moving then just in case." Chris said as he moved his horse forward. Vin and Nathan got back on their horses and followed the group as they head towards Purgatory.

It was an hour later when Ezra woke up to find himself in an extreme amount of pain. The light was still coming through the window making his headache even worse and now his jaw also hurt. He didn't even bother trying to lift his head straight away as he knew that he would only blackout. He instead listened for any sort of noise that told him that someone else was still in the room with him. He remembered what happened but he had no idea where he was. When he was sure that he was alone he tried to open his eyes but closed them again quickly. He waited a few more minutes and then tried again. He managed to keep them open this time and slowly moved his head to the side so he could look around the room. It was not familiar to him at all. He realised that his hands were above his head and he tried to bring them down by his side but they pulled against the rope that was tied around his wrists. He tried pulling harder to see how tight the rope was and found it to be slightly loose. He started to try and get his hands free.

Jason sat in the saloon with his men, he wouldn't call them friends as he didn't have those anymore, that was why he wanted Ezra to join him. He sighed and got up. "I'm going to check on our hostage." he told the other men sitting at the table. "If you see anyone riding in come and let me know." he didn't think that they would show up but he had to make sure that they covered their backs anyway. He slowly walked back to the hotel in the small town and made his way up the stairs to the room that Ezra was in. He entered the room to find the bed empty and before he could react a pair of hands grabbed him and turned him around and he saw Ezra just as his fist knock him to the ground.

Ezra had managed to get his hands loose and it then took him a few more minutes to stand without feeling to dizzy. He made his way to the door but heard someone on the other side of it so he stood to the side and waited while he tried to hold down the nausea that he was feeling. He saw Jason come through the door and before his friend could react he grabbed him and hit him. Ezra watched him fall to the floor and for a moment thought that he was going to join him as the dizziness came over him.

Jason saw Ezra hesitate for a moment and took his chance, he jumped up and pushed Ezra against the wall. Ezra saw him coming but he couldn't do anything as the dizziness he was feeling became overwhelming and he thought that he was going to pass out. He felt Jason push him and he grunted out in pain as his back was slammed against the wall. He then felt Jason's fist hit him in the stomach and all the air was forced out of his lungs. Jason allowed him to collapse to the floor and he then kicked Ezra in the side. Ezra could still feel Jason kicking him as he allowed the darkness to take him.

Jason stopped kicking Ezra in the side when he realised that he had lost conscious. He then picked him up by the shoulders and dragged him back to the bed and tied his hands again this time making sure that the ropes were tighter this time.

The men that were following Jason and his gang stopped on top of the hill that overlooked Purgatory. "What's the plan Chris?" Buck looked across at him.

"We just ride in and find out where they are." he smiled showing no humour not at all.

"You don't think that this plan might get Ezra killed?" Buck was suprised that he would do something that risked Ezra's life.

"If they wanted him dead we would have found his body by now." he turned to Buck. "We go in and look for him, simple as that." He didn't wait for anymore protests and the rest of them had no choice but to follow him. Even the Marshall and his men continued as they wanted Wentworth and his friend if he was helping him.

"So where do we look first?" asked Vin as he caught up with Chris.

"The saloon where else." As they rode into town they looked around and saw Ezra's horse in front of the hotel. Chris stopped and went inside. He saw the man at the desk and went up to him. Vin and Buck came in after him. The rest of them waited outside to keep an eye out. "Some men would have come in here in the last few hours, where are they?"

The man did not like the look on this guy but he had like the look on the other one even less so he lied to him. "They all went to the saloon." He stepped back as Chris leaned over the counter.

"Are you sure about that because if your lying to me I'll come back." he gave the man a cold stare.

"I ain't lyin'." He gave a big sigh of relief as he watched them walk out of the saloon. He then ran up the stairs to tell the other one that the men that he was asking about had arrived. He knocked on the door and stepped back again as the man opened it.

"What?" Jason asked him.

"Some men just came into the hotel looking for you. I told them that you were at the saloon but they will be back." he thanked Jason as he gave him some more money and then left. He was going to make sure that he wasn't around when those men came back.

Jason went back into the room and sat down on the bed. He did not expect this, he didn't think that these men would come into town after them. He looked down at Ezra grateful that he had not killed him yet. He was going to need him now. He untied Ezra's hands from the bed but kept the rope around his wrists. He picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. He was going to go out the back way while his friends went to the saloon to look for him. He noticed how warm Ezra was but he didn't really care as he was no longer a friend. He was just a liability to him now.

Chris came out of the saloon with Vin and Buck hot on his heels. "Josiah, JD and Vin I want you to go down to the saloon and see if they are there, if not then come back here."

"And what are you guys going to do?" asked JD.

"The man in there said that they were in the saloon but I don't believe him. Were going to cover the back while the Marshall and his men here cover the front. Now get going." They nodded and left. Chris, Buck and Nathan made their way around the back. They made it around the back just in time to see the man they were after leaving through the back door. They could also see that he had Ezra slung across his shoulder.

"And where do you think your going?" Chris said to him in a voice cold enough to stop the man in his tracks.

Jason turned around to see the man in black and two more of Ezra's friends standing in front of him. He had underestimated these men. He had to think quick.

Jason allowed a large sigh to escape him and he put a look of relief onto his features. "Thank god it's you. I thought that it was the Marshall." he saw that the expressions on their faces had not changed. "I thought he had come to kill me, I was trying to get Ezra out of here."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Buck.

"The Marshall, he's trying to kill me. That's why I had Ezra help me escape." They were still watching him carefully. "Look can we discuss this somewhere else, Ezra's hurt bad and he needs help."

Chris moved forward while Buck and Nathan covered him. He took the man's gun and then went around to his back to check on Ezra. He could see the dried blood on the side of his head. "Why are his hands tied?"

"The longer we stand here talking about this the worse he is going to get." he tried to sound like he was becoming frustrated and he must have succeded as they finally gave in.

"Take him back inside." Chris nodded towards the door.

Jason did not really want to go back in there but it was better than being on the other end of a bullet. He would just have to try and get away later. He turned around and started to walk back inside and as he did so Nathan and Buck saw the wound on the side of Ezra's head. "Buck can you go and get my bag."

"Sure Nathan." Buck left them standing there and while he walked around to the front of the hotel he remembered that the Marshall would be there but before he got there he heard gunshots coming from the saloon. He waited a couple of minutes and then ran around to the front. "What's going on?" he asked pretending to be confused.

"Gunshots from the saloon." Jones said.

"Well don't you think that you should go and check it out." he only had to wait a moment before they ran down to the saloon. He quickly grabbed Nathan's bag and ran back into the hotel. He ran up the stairs to find Nathan waiting outside one of the rooms. "I'm going to find out what those gunshots were about." he left as Nathan went back into the room.

Vin, Josiah and JD had walked into the saloon knowing that Ezra was probably not there. They looked around and saw five men watching them. "Bit of a coincidence that there are five men there and that they are watching us as though they were expecting someone." commented Josiah.

Vin moved away from the bar and headed towards them. "You men wouldn't have seen someone come into town wearing a red jacket, looks like a gambler?" he asked them. He saw a look of recognition cross one of their faces.

"No we haven't." answered Gary. "So if you don't mind were trying to have a drink here."

"Perhaps I can give you one." the man looked confused but that did not last long as Vin then picked up the bottle of whiskey and hit the man over the head with it. The other four stood up and pulled their guns but Josiah and JD had already drawn theirs and took three of them down before they could fire their guns. Vin then hit the other one. The man tried to grab his gun before he hit the ground but Vin grabbed his gun hand. He then pulled his own gun and placed it against his head. "Where is our friend?"

"I don't know who your talking about." growled Daryl.

Vin cocked the gun to show the man that he would shoot him. "Tell me where he is."

Daryl didn't answer him though as he was more afraid of what his boss would do to him if he said anything. Vin knew that he was not going to answer so he hit him across the side of the head and let him slump to the floor. He looked up then as the Marshall and his men came running in.

Before he could say anything Josiah answered the question he knew that the Marshall was going to ask. "There the five men that are part of Wentworth's gang."

"And where is Wentworth?" he looked around. "Damm he must be back at the hotel." he turned around and ran out with everyone following him. Just as he ran out he saw Buck coming.

"What happened?" asked Buck. Josiah gave him the short version. "You think that he is at the hotel. But we just checked there, they must be somewhere else."

"Where's Larabee then?" Reid was getting impatient. How could they find these five and not the other two.

"He's back at the hotel. He wanted to wait to see if they came for the horses after the gunshots."

"Why don't we all wait there then." he started to walk to the hotel but Buck stopped him.

"Chris suggested that we started looking around the town just in case he is wrong about them getting their horses. Why don't you go down that end of town and we'll go up the other, if you see them fire your gun and we'll come running." Reid looked at him for what seemed like forever. Buck just wanted to get back and see how Ezra was and to make sure that Chris hadn't caused him any other sort of injury. He kept the relief in that he felt when Reid nodded and took his men in the opposite direction. Buck then looked at the others. "You know he's pretty dumb for a Marshall."

"What's going on Buck?" asked Vin.

"Ezra and his friend are at the hotel. Ezra's hurt and his friend claims that the Marshall wants him dead." he had turned around and started walking back to the hotel before he had even finished the sentence.

Chris watched as Jason put Ezra down on the bed, he then began to untie his hands. Nathan had waited outside for Buck to come back. That was when they heard the gunshots. Jason thought that while Chris was distracted he could make his escape but Chris had not even flinched at the sound. He just continued to stand still watching him. Nathan then came into the room and went straight to Ezra. Jason stood back waiting for his opportunity, it was going to be difficult with this man watching him so closely.

Nathan gave Ezra a quick check over first, he was very pale and the only wound that he could see was the one on the side of his head. He then used his hands to quickly check the rest of his body, he found no injuries to his legs or arms but when he pressed against his ribs Ezra moaned and moved away from him. Nathan waited for him to settle and then pressed slightly harder and as Ezra struggled to get away from the pain he felt the three cracked ribs on his left side. He left them for the moment and took a closer look at the head wound, it had stopped bleeding but their was a slight infection. He then felt his forehead and found that he also had a fever. Nathan turned to Chris. "He has a head wound which is slightly infected, three cracked ribs and a fever."

"Tell me what happened?" Chris did not look at Nathan as he told him what was wrong with Ezra he instead stared at Jason as he still did not trust him. There was no real reason for the Marshall to lie to them but there was good enough reason for this one to lie.

Jason looked at Ezra and showed concern. "The Marshall told you that I killed someone?" It was a question that he aimed at Chris although he had he had not taken his eyes off Ezra.

"Yes." Chris wasn't going to say anymore.

"Told you that it was a young man. Only sixteen he was. I saw him in the bank, he was with his father. I wasn't one of the robbers but I saw who they were. Saw them murder the boy. I have no idea why the Marshall wants to kill me. When you found us yesterday they were about hang me. I would be dead now if you hadn't come along."

"What about the men that you met on the way here?" Chris was watching him very carefully for any sign that he was lying.

"Don't even know them. We came across them on the way here. Seems that they knew who Ezra was though. There was not much that he could do against five of them. They beat him up and then brought us here. Tied us both up, I managed to get myself untied and tried to get him out of here, that's when I ran into you outside." He had become a good lier over the years and had a pretty good poker face, it wasn't as good as Ezra's but it was enough to get him through a con and he hoped that it was enough to get him through this.

"Why didn't Ezra ask us to help you?" Chris was still not convinced.

Jason remembered what Eza had said about this man only coming to look for him because he would want to kill him so he took a chance and hoped that what he said was enough to convince them. "He said that you wouldn't trust him." he saw the change of expression come over Chris's face and knew that he had hit the right spot. He took this moment to move toward the bed. "Is Ezra going to be alright?" he asked Nathan.

"Whoever it was that hit him used a lot of force, I'll have to wait until he wakes up to be sure." Jason did not like the way that Nathan looked at him. He had only two choices left and that was to either get away from them or make sure that Ezra did not wake up. He looked up as the rest of Ezra's friends came into the room.

"How's Ezra?" Buck asked before anyone could say anything else.

"I'm not sure yet Buck. Could you sit with him for a minute I want to have a word with Chris." He didn't give him a chance to protest. Nathan went over to Chris and made sure that Jason wasn't within hearing distance.

"What's wrong Nathan? Is Ezra . . . "

"No Ezra should be alright, he'll have a concussion but apart from that he'll be fine." Natha told him. "It's what Jason said about those five men beating him up." Nathan looked behind him and saw that Jason was watching him so he put his own look of concern on his face hoping that he would think that he was talking to Chris about Ezra's condition. "His head wound is older than the injury to his ribs. Whoever cracked his ribs only did it recently as his side is only starting to bruise. If it happened at the same time then the bruise would already be bad."

"You saying that he's lying?"

"Could be."

Chris frowned and turned to Jason. "Reid said that there were witnesses to the murder, why would they lie."

'Shit.' thought Jason. "They were paid to lie."

"I don't believe you." Chris said. "I think that your guilty of the crime that you have been accused of and I think that it was you who beat Ezra up.

"Believe what you want but Ezra will tell you the same thing about those five guys when he wakes up." He thought that he had convinced them but the black man must have noticed something was wrong, he looked back down at Ezra and saw that his shirt was open allowing him to see the small bruise that was beginning to form on his side where he had repeatedly kicked him. The bruise wasn't old enough. He made a mistake that could cost him dearly.

"We'll just sit here then and wait till he does." Chris went to the only chair in the room and sat down.

"What about the Marshall?" asked Vin.

"You go and deal with him Vin." Chris did not look away from Jason.

Vin left the room and JD went with him in case he needed help. Buck and Josiah stayed close to Ezra while Nathan finished bandaging Ezra's head wound. He then asked Josiah to help him bandage his ribs. Ezra responded to the pain that it caused him but he did not wake up. It was a while before he did that. Jason had begun to sweat while the man watching him stayed calm. He watched as Nathan placed a damp cloth on Ezra's forehead and he saw the knifes that were strapped to his back under his jacket. He smiled to himself as he just decided on how he could get out of here.

Vin and JD came back to let them know that the Marshall was willing to wait downstairs, they had also taken care of the two men that were left alive but they couldn't get any answers out of them. They then left again to wait with the Marshall because the room was to crowded with all of them in there. Chris was watching Jason, he could see that the man was sweating and this convinced him that the man had been lying, it was only a matter of waiting for Ezra to wake up to confirm it.

Jason was sweating, he couldn't help it. If anything gave him away in a con it was his sweating. He hated situations like this. He couldn't control them. But he had to stay as calm as he could so they would not think that he was going to try anything when Ezra woke up. He kept looking back at Chris but the man would not take his eyes off him. He was still watching him when they heard Ezra groan. Nathan went to his side. Chris stood up but kept his eyes on Jason.

"Ezra, it's Nathan."

It took Ezra a few moments to answer him as he was trying to remember where he was and what happened. "Nathan?"

"Yeah, Ezra we need to ask you something." Nathan looked up at Jason. "We need to know who did this to you. Can you tell us?"

Ezra opened his eyes, the light was not so bad this time as it had gotten darker in the room, it had begun to get dark outside. "We?"

"Ezra, you know who did this to you don't you?" Nathan was beginning to worry that Ezra did not remember.

"Who's in here with us." Ezra looked around but his vision hadn't focused as yet.

"Ezra can you see me?" Now he was really worried.

"Yes of course I can, my vision just won't focus that's all." Nathan relaxed.

"Chris, Buck and Josiah are here. Also Jason. Now are you going to tell me who did this to you."

"Jason did it." Ezra mumbled.

Jason reacted faster than they expected him to, he only had to look at Ezra's face to know that he was going to tell them what happened and before he even finished saying his name he leant over and with his left hand he grabbed the back of Ezra's jacket and with his right he pulled one of the knifes from the sheath on Nathan's back. He pulled Ezra toward him at the same time. Chris could see what was happening and had his gun out before Jason had even removed the knife but he couldn't shoot while he was leaning over Ezra. He wouldn't take the chance that the bullet would go straight through and hit Ezra. But Jason soon gave him his chance as when he pulled Ezra from the bed he allowed Chris access to his right side. Chris fired his gun and both Jason and Ezra fell to the floor.

The bullet hit Jason in his right shoulder but he did not drop the knife and when Ezra fell unconscious on top of him he tried to put the knife against his throat but Chris fired again before he could and the bullet entered his forehead. The knife dropped harmessly to the floor. Nathan quickly rushed to the other side of the bed. He could see that their was nothing that he could do for Jason so he helped Ezra. He rolled him off the dead man to find that he had lost consciousness again.

"Can someone help me get Ezra back on the bed?" he asked the people in the room.

Buck and Josiah came to help him and together they carefully lifted Ezra up and place him back on the bed. The door to the room flew open as the Marshall rushed in followed by Vin and JD. "What happened?" asked Vin.

"Jason tried to get away, he threatened Ezra and I had no choice but to shoot him." explained Chris as he watched Nathan take care of Ezra. "It was him that beat Ezra."

"Jones!" yelled the Marshall. He turned around to see his deputy come into the room. He then turned back to Chris. "This man is under arrest for helping Wentworth escape. My deputy here will guard him until he is ready to be taken back to Mount Hallow."

"You can't do that. Ezra thought that he was innocent." Buck stood in front of the Marshall.

"I'm sorry but he helped him escape. It will be up to the Judge to decide what happens to him."

Chris moved closer to Reid. "I just told you that he threatened Ezra's life. What more do you need to know. Ezra may have helped him at first but then he must have become a hostage."

"That's exactly my point. He helped him at first. And he still has to answer for this." He pointed to his own bandaged head.

"Can one of us stay with him as well." asked Josaih as none of them was going to leave Ezra alone with the deputy.

Reid looked at Chris and then at Josiah. "Yeah sure. Listen I don't know your friend here or why he did it but I am a Marshall and I have to enforce the law."

"Yeah. Your just doing your job right." Buck did not hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm sorry." he turned and motioned to two of his deputies to remove Jason's body. Jones went and sat in the chair that was now vacant.

"Nathan, Buck you stay with Ezra and we'll come back later to see how he's doing."

Buck nodded his head as he watched everyone else leave the room. Nathan had finished checking Ezra again and after finding no new injuries he stepped back and waited for him to wake up again.

"What are we going to do Chris? We can't let him arrest Ezra." JD asked him after they had left the room. He waited as the Marshall walked down the stairs.

"There is not a lot we can do JD. Like he said, it's the law. Hopefully Judge Travis will go easy on him." Chris told him.

"But we can't just leave it at that." JD was getting angry. It seemed as though Chris did not want to help Ezra.

"Chris is right JD." Josiah turned to him. "If we try and stop the Marshall he will only arrest us and then what can we do?"

"It's not right." JD walked down the stairs after the Marshall. Chris looked at the door behind him and followed JD and the others.

Ezra tried to hide in the darkness again but as always the dreams soon started. But this time it was different. This time it was Jason who was standing in front of him. He had his gun pointed at him just as the others had done. "You should choose better friends Ezra." he fired his gun and the bullet entered Ezra's body as it always did and then Jason walked away laughing as Ezra died.

Ezra jerked awake and swallowed the fear. "Damn." he muttered. He wiped his hand across his forehead but cried out in pain as his hand brushed against the wound on the side of head. He felt someone take his hand and put it down against his side.

"Take it easy Ezra." Buck said to him.

Ezra recognised the voice and allowed himself to relax and was soon asleep again. The dreams continued and the soothing voice was always there to help him calm down. He finally woke and opened his eyes to look at the person who had been there for him.

"Buck, do you not have anything better to do than to sit with me all the time? Isn't there some woman that you could be chasing or something?"

"Feeling better then are you Ezra?" Buck had been worried as Nathan said that Ezra had a fever. And he had been dreaming again and the dreams were still bad.

Ezra looked around the room and saw Nathan and one of the deputies sitting in a chair. Jones had not moved for the last four hours. He didn't say anything about Ezra's dreams. "What happened to Jason?"

"Chris had to shoot him. Jason didn't give him a choice, he was going to kill you." Buck watched him carefully.

"Yes I must choose better friends." Ezra said remembering what Jason had told him in one of his dreams.

"What's that supposed to mean Ezra?" Nathan had come over when he realised that he had woken.

Ezra looked at him. "It means exactly what it says Mr Jackson."

They had only spent one night in Purgatory as Ezra had told Nathan that he was fine to travel and if they did not allow him to he would leave on his own accord which the Marshall had protested against. So Nathan had no choice but to agree. The Marshall had wanted to put handcuffs on Ezra but Chris was able to convince him not to. And in the morning they rode out not knowing what Ezra's future would be.

Buck had been watching Ezra carefully as he was worried about him as all he seemed to do was watch the lifeless body of his friend that the Marshall had slung over one of the horses. The only time he spoke was to answer questions and if those questions were in regards to his health he would deliver the answer harsly. It did not matter who asked the question. They had to stop for one night on the way back and during that night Ezra had dreamed. There seemed to be nothing they could do to help him. There was nothing that they could say to him that would take the dreams away, not that he wanted to listen to anything they had to say to him.

When they rode into Mount Hallow Jones and one of the other deputies took Jason's body to the undertaker's and Marshall Reid took Ezra to the jail house. Protests were made but he did not listen to them. When he had locked Ezra in one of the cells he left to look for Judge Travis to inform him of what had happened. Buck stayed with Ezra while the others took care of the horses.

"Everything is going to be fine Ezra, the Judge will let you go." Buck was pacing back and forth. "He won't send you to jail, your one of us, he won't break up the group."

"Maybe I don't want to be part of the group anymore Buck." Ezra kept his gaze to the ground as he knew what the expression on his face would be.

Buck stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean Ezra?"

"Chris is right, I always have my self interests come first and one day they are going to get someone killed. So it is best that I leave."

"No way Ezra. I won't let you leave. You told us what happened. Jason told you that he was innocent. You believed him, you didn't know how much he had changed." He looked at his friend, his heart breaking because there was absolutely nothing that he could do for him. "It's not your fault Ezra!" Buck had raised his voice.

"I don't think that I have a choice anymore." Ezra's voice was full of emotion. He did not want to leave but as he said to Buck he would one day cause one of the seven to die. He had found a home in Four Corners, something that he had wanted all his life but had never been able to find. He wanted friends but he knew that out of the six that Buck was the only one that he could call a real friend. He got on fine with JD but they would never be close. He knew that the other four never really liked him or would ever call him a friend but they gave him compainionship. Something that he also craved for. He would never admit these things to anyone, he even had a hard time admitting it to himself.

"We'll see about that!" Buck was angry now and he left Ezra to go and talk to Chris and the Judge. He wasn't going to let Ezra go. He had become a friend and he was wrong about getting one of them killed. It was something that Chris had told him in the heat of the moment. He hoped that was the case. But he was going to do everything that he could to keep him as part of the seven.

Buck walked out the jailhouse and straight into Chris. "Don't you even think about going in there right now." Buck growled at him.

"What did I do?" Chris was confused.

"You have done enough already and you know what I am talking about. I want you to come with me because we are going to talk to the Judge." Buck grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the door. Normally Chris would have put an argument which would have become physical but he was courious as to what Buck was talking about so he went with him.

They found the judge in the saloon talking to Marshall Reid. Buck walked straight up to him. "Judge Travis I need to talk to you about Ezra."

"Marshall Reid here has been telling me all about Mr Standish." The Judge waved the Marshall away from the table. "Now why don't you tell me his side of the story."

They spoke for nearly an hour and Buck could see the changes of expressions that came over both the Judge's and Chris's faces. The Judge had no idea what had been happening to Ezra and Chris was suprised and ashamed that what he had said about Ezra getting one of them killed had stuck in his mind. From Buck had been saying every negative thing that he had said to him stayed in his mind.

"And you say that he is still having these dreams?" The Judge asked Buck.

"Yes he is. He is just so full of anger and it is because of us. Jason told him he was innocent and Ezra believed him. He would have waited and asked us to help him but with the way we have been treating him lately," he looked at Chris, "he didn't think that we would trust him so he did it on his own."

The Judge looked down and thought for a moment. "He did attack the Marshall."

"Ezra didn't know the situation, none of us did and the Marshall was beating his prisoner. What would you have done?"

"I will think on it tonight. Bring Mr Standish here at nine in the morning." He got up to leave.

"Thanks Judge." Buck shook his hand.

"You have not got anything to thank me for yet Mr Wilmington. Now I suggest that you go and talk to your friend and tell him to be in a co-operative mood tomorrow, it might help him." he tipped his hat and then left the saloon. He was going to have a long day tomorrow from what Buck had just told him.

Buck went back to the jailhouse with Chris following behind him. Ezra was sitting on the bunk with his head in his hands. Chris used the keys to unlock the cell and Buck went and sat next to him. "You okay Ezra?"

"I'm fine. I was asleep." Buck and Chris didn't need to be told anything more.

"We have just been talking to the Judge." Buck told him.

"About me I assume." Ezra did not look up as he didn't want them to see the tears of frustration that had fallen from his eyes. The dreams would not go away and he didn't know how to make them go.

"The Judge wants to talk to you tomorrow and he wants you to be co-operative with him." Chris said this as he hoped that it would cause Ezra to look up at him but his head stayed in his hands.

"And what does he mean by that?"

"He wants you to talk Ezra and I mean talk about everything. Your anger, your dreams, everything." Buck watched as Ezra pulled the bandage from his head and place it against his eyes. He looked up at Chris who just shrugged back at him. "Ezra are you sure that your okay?"

"And what if I don't want to talk?" Buck noticed how he did not answer his first question.

"Then you will probably go to jail."

"You better pack a bag for me then." Ezra murmered.

Buck stood up. "Ezra I am getting pretty sick of this selfpity that you are laying on us!" he didn't know what to say to him so he decided to try being angry knowing that it usually didn't work either. The last time he tried it Ezra hit him.

"Then perhaps you should leave Mr Wilmington." Ezra knew that Buck had only said it out of concern, that he was worried about him. But he couldn't let old habits die. He couldn't let him get any closer or it would be even harder for him to leave.

"Fine, I'll leave this cell but I am staying out here. All night if I have to." Buck walked out of the cell and went and sat behind the desk. Chris stayed where he was.

"Do you have anything that you want to add Mr Larabee?"

"Not yet Ezra. I'll wait till tomorrow, that way you will have more than one person ganging up on you." Chris turned and left not waiting for Ezra's retort but he did not give one.

Ezra woke Buck twice during the night with his screams and Buck could do nothing but watch as Ezra rolled back onto his side with his arms wrapped around himself trying to stop his body from shaking. He knew that Ezra dreamt of being left alone and dying alone but he did not know what it was that scared him so much in his dreams. He hoped that the Judge was going to be able to get him to talk about it. When the morning came Ezra was still asleep and Buck had to wake him up. He didn't want to do it as he had slept peacefully for a few hours and he also knew that to wake him up at this time of day would only put him in a bad mood and that was not going to help when he went to see the Judge.

"Ezra you have to wake up now." he shook his shoulder gently. "You have to go and see the judge in an hour." It took a few minutes to get a response from him as he had been sleeping deeply.

"Buck go away and let me sleep." Ezra growled at him.

Anger is just what Buck did not want to hear from him. "I'm sorry Ezra but you have to get up." He had left his hand on his shoulder and Ezra shoved it off. "JD will be coming shortly with some breakfast for you."

Ezra rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes. "I'm not hungry."

"You can at least try to eat something Ezra, you wouldn't eat last night. Come to think of it you haven't eaten much at all in the last few days."

Buck stepped back as Ezra sat up. "Buck I don't want to eat anything."

"And why not." they both looked up as Chris walked in.

Ezra stood up and stretched his back. "Is there any chance that I could clean myself up before I face the judge?"

"Sure. Your not going to try and escape are you?" Buck smiled trying to ease Ezra's mood but it didn't work.

"I'll come with you." Chris allowed Ezra to walk in front of him but was slow to follow. "How was he last night?" he asked Buck.

"He woke up twice with his nightmares and then I had to wake him up this morning. He is not in a good mood so be careful with him Chris."

Chris stayed out of Ezra's way so he would not think that he was guarding him. Once Ezra had shaved and made himself presentable he headed over to the saloon where he was told the Judge would be waiting for him. Chris walked by his side. He was worried about how this was going to go. With Ezra in a bad mood it was going to be more difficult to get him talk. They walked into the saloon to find the other five hired gunmen waiting for them. Ezra did not look at them as he walked towards the table that the Judge was sitting at. Chris and Buck stood to the side of the table.

"Sit down Mr Standish." he waited for Ezra to sit in the chair facing him. He took notice of his pale complexion and the darkness under his eyes. "Would you like to tell me what happened with Mr Wentworth?"

"There is nothing to tell as I am sure that my associates have already told you everything." Ezra had made sure that his poker face was on before he came to the table and hoped that he was going to be able to keep it on.

"Your right, he doesn't talk." this comment was aimed at Buck but he kept his eyes on Ezra. "I want you to tell me what happened."

"Jason told me he was innocent and I believed him." Ezra kept his voice calm.

"So you helped him escape?" The Judge already knew the answers to the questions that he was going to ask but he needed to get Ezra to talk.

"Yes." was all Ezra said.

"Why didn't you ask the others for help." he saw Ezra's poker face falter for a moment but then it was back. "And I want you to tell me the truth."

"Am I under oath?" Buck rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

The Judge smiled. "I can put you under oath and make this an official trial if that is what you want Mr Standish."

Ezra did not take his eyes away from the Judge's. "They don't trust me."

"Is this true Mr Larabee?" Ezra's poker face dropped. He did not expect that.

"No it is not." He saw Ezra look at him so Chris looked back. "I may tell you things that may make you think that we don't trust you Ezra but we do. I have said things when I was angry and I am sorry for that and before you ask no one told me to say that." Buck gave him a confused look. "I'll explain that later."

Ezra looked away from him and back at the Judge. He had his poker face back on.

"Did you hear that Mr Standish. Your friends do trust you." Ezra laughed. "And what is so funny?"

"Your use of the word friends, they don't even like me." Ezra kept laughing. The Judge looked over at Chris.

"That's not true Ezra and you know it." JD had come closer.

Ezra looked over his shoulder towards JD's voice. "Why don't you ask them Mr Dunne as I'm sure they would agree with me." No one knew what to say and the silence hung in the air. "I think that proves my point." he turned back to the Judge. "Now can we get on with the reason why I am here."

"Not yet Ezra." Josiah came and stood next to Ezra. "You have to admit it Ezra that you don't allow people to like you. You go out of your way to stop us from getting close to you. And I believe you know that you are wrong and that is why you try so hard at keeping us away." he knelt down so he could look at Ezra. "We know it's not your fault, it's something that your mother taught you to do so it would be easier for you to leave places and people behind. But you have found something in Four Corners and you are doing your best to destroy it. You have to accept it Ezra and allow us to be your friends."

Ezra would not look at him as he knew that what he was saying was true but he was also thinking of something else and instead of keeping quiet he thought that he would finally say something. Josiah stood up and stepped back from him so the Judge could continue. Buck patted Josiah on the back, he didn't think that any of them could have put it better. The Judge looked at Ezra again and he could see the emotion flicker through his eyes. He knew that a poker face could hide a lot but sometimes it was difficult to hide it from your eyes.

"Is that why you didn't show any concern for me when you recieved the telegram to say that I had been shot when you went to Eagle Bend, when you didn't come looking for me after the explosions because I would not allow you to become my friends. Are you saying that it was my fault?" They could all hear the sarcasm in his voice.

The Judge knew about this as Buck had told him yesterday but he did not know why it happened so he waited with Ezra for them to give him an answer. But they stayed silent. He looked at them but they were all looking at the floor. "Gentlemen I think that Mr Standish is waiting for an answer."

"There is nothing any of us can say to make what we did any different Ezra. They were stupid mistakes and we will never forgive ourselves for what we put you through." Josiah had come forward again and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Please take your hand off me Mr Sanchez." Ezra was beginning to become more angry. This wasn't any sort of trial they were just using the situation to try and make him talk. "Judge Travis we either get on with this or I will go back to my jail cell."

"You will not be going anywhere Mr Standish until I say we are finished here. Is that understood?" Ezra did not answer him though. "Now tell me why you attacked the Marshall."

"He was being to rough with Jason."

"So you attacked him and gave him a concussion?" he was watching Ezra closely and could see that he was getting angry.

"Why do you keep asking me these questions if you already know what happened?" Ezra asked him.

"I told you I want you to tell me what happened now answer my question please."

"Yes I hit him."

"How long had it been since you saw your friend?"

"Five years."

"And what sort of friend was he?" The Judge looked up at him.

Ezra looked down at his hands. He was beginning to find it hard to control his poker face. "If you mean was he a murderer then, no he wasn't. He was a good friend. He was one of the few that I had."

"So you had good reason to believe him when he told you that he was innocent?" he was beginning to lead Ezra in a certain direction and he hoped that he would continue to talk as he had been.

"Yes I did."

"Mr Jackson told me you hit the Marshall quite hard. You must have been pretty angry." the others tensed up as they had an idea where the Judge was heading the conversation. Ezra looked back up at him.

"Yes I was but what has that got to do with it?"

"I understand that you have been very angry lately." that was not a question but the Judge still waited for a response but he did not get one. "Would you like to tell me why you have been so angry."

"No I wouldn't." the anger was now beginning to show in Ezra's voice.

"Your angry now aren't you?" he was keeping his own voice void of emotions.

"Why are you doing this. It has nothing to do with why I am supposed to be here?"

"I told you it will help me know why you helped your friend escape." The judge did not look away from him. "Tell me why you were and are angry?"

Ezra looked away and down at the floor. "I am not answering any more of your questions."

"Your not one of those types of people who get angry when they don't get a lot of sleep are you?" Ezra lifted his head quickly and looked around at Buck.

"What did you tell him?" he growled at him.

"I am the one asking the questions Mr Standish so would you please answer mine." he waited for a few moments but Ezra did not answer him. "Are you not getting any sleep is that it?"

"I just don't sleep very well that's all." Ezra muttered.

"Is the reason you don't sleep well have to do with the nightmares that you are having?"

"What do my dreams have to do with any of this?" everyone in the room could hear the anger in Ezra's voice. Chris moved closer to his chair.

"I have told you numerous times why I am asking these type of questions."

"I don't see how they have anything to do with why I helped Jason escape." the tension was beginning to build in the saloon and everyone held their breaths.

"They may have a lot to do with it. Now Ezra please tell me about your dreams."

Ezra knew what he was doing as soon as he used his first name. "No!" he got up to leave but felt someone's hands on his shoulders and they forced him back down into the chair. He let a small cry of pain escape his lips as the chairs arm hit his injured ribs. He grabbed his side and bent over at the pain he was feeling.

"Sorry Ezra." Chris said behind him as the concern showed on his face.

"You okay Ezra?" asked Nathan as he came up to him.

"Get away from me!" he spat at him.

"Gentlemen I think that we should give Mr Standish a few moments."

"I don't need a few moments." Ezra growled at him as he straightened himself up. He winced at the pain.

"Fine, we shall continue then. I believe that you were about to tell me about your dreams."

"And I believe that I wasn't." Ezra smiled at him but the Judge could see no humour in it but he could see the challenge that Ezra was making. He knew that if he continued to push him he would crack under the pressure and he would either do something that would require physical force to stop him or he would talk to him. He decided to push him and hope for the latter.

The Judge sat back and folded his arms across his chest. "We can sit here all day Ezra and I am sure that your friends are not going to let you go anywhere. They have tried to get you to talk about it but you won't so now I am going to try." he smiled back at him also showing no humor in his smile.

"What sort of jail term would I get for hitting a Judge?"

The Judge's smile did not falter. "I have had worse threats than that Mr Standish."

"Ezra would you stop being so stubborn and just tell the man!" Buck was practically yelling at him. He didn't think that it was going to be this hard for the Judge to get him to talk.

"Mr Larabee why don't you tell him. You once told me you knew what my dreams were about."

"He wants you to tell him Ezra." Chris answered him.

"But I don't want to." Ezra held his side and the Judge could see that he was still in pain.

"Why don't you start Chris and maybe Ezra can finish it."

"When he was recovering from the injury in his side he had a lot of nightmares and he spoke in his dreams and from what we could tell he dreamt of being left alone, that we were not looking for him but we must have found him because he continued to ask someone not to leave him that he didn't want to die alone." Chris watched Ezra's face as he told the Judge what his dreams were about. He could see the grimace on his face but he did not know if it was from the memory of what happened or the pain that he was still feeling from when he pushed him back into the chair.

"Is what he said true Ezra?"

"I'm sure you already knew what they thought my dreams were about." he could no longer hide his emotions under his poker face. The pain of the memory showed in his eyes.

"What do you mean when you say what they thought they were about?" he knew from that statement that there was more to Ezra's nightmares than what Chris had just told him.

"They thought wrong." Ezra looked up at him. "That was not all I dreamt about, do dream about." he looked over his shoulder at the others but he did not look at their faces. "They told you that they forgot about me?" he saw the Judge nod out of the corner of his eye as he wouldn't look at him. "Nathan said that I was delirious, that I started to think that they wanted to kill me." he waited a moment before he went on. "That's what I dream about."

"You dream about them wanting to kill you?" asked the Judge. He looked over at Chris and Buck and they like the others had a look of confusion on their faces. This was new to them.

"No I dream about them killing me."

"You dream that they kill you?" he saw Ezra nod as he did not say anything. "Tell me about it, tell me what happens." the Judge used a soothing voice. He could tell that Ezra was no longer angry but he had dealt with people whose anger quickly turned to depression, some of them would build a wall around themselves. He knew that it was harder to get them to talk and Ezra would be one of them. He waited a few more moments and was beginning to think that he was not going to talk.

Ezra put his hand to his side and pointed to the branch as though it was still there but he was in his dream again. "I was lying against the tree with a branch protruding from my side. I was going to pull myself off it but I thought that it would be best to wait for Nathan. I waited for ten minutes but nobody came." he looked to his left and everyone followed his gaze but all they saw was the saloon window. Ezra was looking at the trees hoping to see someone coming for him. "I started to think that they were hurt or dead. Then there they all were standing in front of me, pointing their fingers at me and laughing. They would just walk away at first and leave me there to die but it changed. They then pulled their guns and shot at me, they didn't hit me at first. The bullets would miss and then they would walk away laughing again." he looked down at his hands. "Then the bullets hit me and while they walked away I died. They shot me and then left me to die. And now it's Jason that's in my dreams. They won't go away and I don't know how to make them go."

"Damn Ezra, why didn't you tell us?" Buck moved up to his friend and knelt down beside him.

"And what could you have done Buck?"

"Probably nothing but it might have helped you if you talked to us or just talked to me about them. You can't hold things like that in Ezra."

"This won't be a quick fix for you Ezra but talking about it will help. The dreams may take a while to leave you but they will stop." the Judge said to him.

"But I have been having them for weeks now." Buck stood up and put his hand on Ezra's shoulder as Josiah had done but he did not ask him to move it.

"And it may take weeks for them to stop. The first step is to talk about these things and you haven't been. That's why your friends asked me to do it. So we decided that it would either be a jail term or you talking about it. And after what we have just been through a jail term would probably have been easier." Buck looked at him with a shocked expression. "I was kidding Buck. You told me it would be hard to get him to talk but you didn't say that it would be this hard."

"My mother taught me well." sighed Ezra. He didn't feel any better for talking about it though. "So what now?"

"There you go again Mr Standish asking questions when I should be asking them." he looked at Ezra seriously. "Now what is this I hear about you wanting to leave the group?"

"You just don't stop do you?" they didn't know if this question was aimed at the Judge or Buck for telling him. "What was it you said Chris. I have my own selfinterests at heart and they will one day get one of you killed. I leaving so that doesn't happen."

Chris came forward then ignoring the looks that everyone was giving him. "I was angry when I said that Ezra. Yes you do tend to think of money first if there is any to be made but you would also risk your life to save one of us. You would never put our lives in danger." he took a breath as he did not think that he would ever say it. "I don't want you leaving the group Ezra, none of us do. Were a team and we work well together." he looked at the Judge and then back at Ezra. "Would you at least wait until your feeling better and these dreams are gone before you make a desicion."

"And if you do decide to leave then your punishment would be a jail term Mr Standish." Ezra looked up at him. "You stay then you don't go to jail, you leave and you do go to jail. It's up to you, want do you want to do?"

"I don't seem to have a choice." Ezra scowled at him. "Now is there anything else you want to make me talk about as I am suddenly feeling the need for a drink." Buck slapped Ezra on the back and went and got a bottle and some glasses. Vin and JD helped him hand them out. Ezra stayed at the table as he was now to tired to get up. The Judge watched him for a moment and then went to talk to Buck.

"After he has a drink I suggest you take him to the hotel as he looks like he could do with some rest."

"I'll do that Judge and thanks for everything."

"It's not over for him yet Mr Wilmington he still has a long way to go." Buck nodded and watched the Judge leave the saloon.

Ezra did not protest when Buck told him that he should go and rest but he did not sleep, he lay awake for the rest of the day thinking about what the Judge had said to him. About what Chris and Josiah had said. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to stay but the Judge had not given him a choice. Later that evening he finally fell asleep and in the early hours in the morning he woke with the scream escaping from his mouth.

The End